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Balderton Capital

About

We have been on the ground in Europe for over two decades building a unique understanding of what it takes for a start-up to become a global champion.

Supporting European founders from Seed to IPO.

  • 22 years investing in Europe
  • $4.5BN raised to invest in European technology
  • >300 companies backed since 2000

We support Europe's leading technology businesses

We have one of the largest and most experienced venture teams in Europe.

We are all fully committed to supporting our Founders at every stage of their journey.

We believe the next European giant will be a technology company

For a millennium, Europe was the cradle of innovation. Yet today, only a few of its largest enterprises are technology companies. We believe this will change. The continent’s long tradition of innovation and substantial engineering talent, along with ten years of ecosystem development, have come together to create an environment where startups can scale to become large companies with global impact.

Technology is everywhere and transforms every industry. It has the power to generate very large companies in a short period of time. Our ambition is to nurture these future giants in our portfolio.

We believe in pioneers with outsized ambitions

We believe in people with grand plans. Who think big. Who are fearless and determined. Entrepreneurs who want to build formidable enterprises on a global scale. Founders who see way beyond personal financial gains. Individuals on a mission to create an extraordinary future.

These pioneers are rare. They can come from every educational and personal background, and from every country in Europe. That’s why we clock over a million miles a year to seek them out – and when we find them, commit to working tirelessly with them.

We believe in engineering serendipity

As entrepreneurs and founders ourselves, we know that building a business is not a linear journey. Sometimes, it is serendipitous meetings that spark game-changing inspiration. It is a question of being in the right place at the right time.

To leave these moments to chance is to waste the power of possibilities. We believe that serendipity can be engineered. That's why we are committed to nurturing a community founded on networking. We host hundreds of events a year at our HQ in London and across Europe, and we work our extensive network to connect our companies with mentors, board members, customers and new friends. Our Collective infrastructure connects our portfolio companies to each other in ever-deeper, mutually beneficial ways. All to tip the odds in favour of our entrepreneurs.

We believe in creating an unfair advantage

We and our portfolio companies share a deep desire to win. That’s why we are driven to give our entrepreneurs advantages their competition cannot match.

Every day, we draw on our expertise: years of investing, hundreds of IPOs and exits, our personal experience building successful multi-billion dollar tech companies and, crucially, our unique global network from our portfolio to our Executive Council. By deploying maximum resources – from helping find the best talent to advising on global expansion – we seek to create an unfair winning advantage for every company in our portfolio.

We believe in the power of ethics

We don’t see ethics as an impediment to success. On the contrary, we believe an ethical core is a critical element of every great global company. Ethical decision making, practiced at all levels of a company, creates more sustainable business practices, better financial outcomes, and stronger organizations. We seek companies and entrepreneurs who share this same belief.

At Balderton, we are dedicated to winning, but never to winning at any cost. This means we are committed to behaving with the utmost integrity with entrepreneurs, investors, each other, and with our community at large. Every day, we will challenge ourselves to improve not just what we do but how we do it.

Our values are the principles that drive our work every day

  • Passionate about winning
  • We aim to build the best venture firm in Europe
  • We work hard to win the hearts of the entrepreneurs
  • We encourage our entrepreneurs to take risks and to think big
  • Rigorous in our thinking
  • We debate hard and value smart thinking, based on facts and data
  • We aim to develop strong convictions around key decisions and avoid soft consensus
  • We challenge the status quo and aim to excel and raise the bar in everything we do
  • Trusted partner of the entrepreneur
  • More than providers of capital, we aim to be the trusted partner of the entrepreneurs
  • We are straightforward and honest
  • We are here to help entrepreneurs go through the hard challenges of building great companies
  • Collaborative and ego free
  • We work together, and challenge each other, but do so in a friendly and supportive manner
  • We are an equal partnership, and as such, we will bring all the resources of the firm at the service of the entrepreneur
  • We value humility and know not to take undue credit. Success belongs to the companies and the entrepreneurs
  • Responsible investors
  • Integrity is the backbone of our firm. It dictates how we operate with everyone
  • We integrate ethics in our investment decision making
  • We aim to drive values of integrity and responsibility in the entire portfolio

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